Golf-club head construction



June 24, 1930. 5.3- SMITH 25 GOLF CLUB HEAD CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 21, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN Y [I l I Inventor zezjknz'ng QSIFVY'ZZA A iforney June 24, 1930. B. B. SMITH 1,768,378

GOLF CLUB HEAD CONSTRUCTIbN Filed Aug. 21, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Er e amen Szazfb I By Wm itc icy Patented June 24, 1930 UNITED STATES nnnmmn Boom/ran SMITH, or TULLAHOMA, mnimnssnn GOLFZ-CLUB-E-IEAD CONSTRUCTION Application filed August 21, 1929. Serial No. 387,471.

This invention relatesto the construction of golf club driving heads, and an object of invention is to provide a laminated head that is as strong as solid heads, and at'the same time to use smaller pieces of persimmon and dogwood soas to considerably reduce the cost of manufacture. v

Further objects of the invention are to provide, in a manner as hereinafter set forth, a golf club head construction-of the character referred to, that is strong, compact and durable, thoroughly reliable for .its intended purpose, very simple in its method of assembly, and construction, and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists of a novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts that will be hereinafter more specifically described and-illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is disclosed an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that ohanges,variati0ns and modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit ofthe claims hereto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views: I

Figure l is a perspective fragmentary p0rtion of a golf club in the finished assembled relation.

Figure 2'is a perspective view of one of the head sections. I 1

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken substantially on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a side view of a pair of stems bent and unsevered in accordance present invention. V

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the two head sections assembled on the stem section prior to finishing the club as is illustrated in Figure 1.

It is customary in the trade to form the wooden driving head of a golf club of persimmon or dogwood that are very expensive to make. The expense is attributed to the fact that persimmon or dogwood do not grow very large in diameter and in order to. turn down a driving head from these with the :shaped channels 14, 15.

gether, the registering channels 14, 15 overlap the entire area of the-lower legs 16 of woods, it is necessary to either cutdown on the width of the head or waste a large amount of expensive wood.

The. present invention tends to eliminate this expensive method of manufacture as 5.5, will appear in the following description. The first economical step in the manufacture of the: head in accordance with the present invention. is to take a piece of straight grained hickory or ash or any other hardwood having straight grain and by the con- ,ventional steaming process form a substantially U-shaped body 6 with the .desired angles at 7, 8, where the legs merge with-the bight portion of the body portion.

After drying, the body portion may be severed along the dotted line 9, whereby two necks indicated generally at 10 are formed. The angles at 7 and 8 arewithin the-best practice, obtuse angled.

In cross section, the body portion 6 is preferably square. The second economical step in accordance with the present inven tion is to provide the head indicated generally at 11 in two sections 12, 13'. Thev sections .12, 13 are formed of persimmon,

dogwood, used ordinarily in constructing the heads of golf clubs. The two sections 12, 13 are formed solid and of a substantially rectangular configuration. Intermediate the upper and lower faces of each section 12,

13 on the inner face of each, there are pro videdregistering, inwardly directed U- Channel 14 on section 12 is co-extensive. with the width thereof and the channel '15 on the section '13 is co-extensive with the -width of this section. WVhen the inner faces of the sections 12 and 13 are brought tothe obtuse angled stem 10. Prior to the assembly, the channels are coated with glue and theoutor face of the leg 16 is also coated with glue so that when the channels are .95 brought intooverlapping relation with the leg 16 of the stem they will form a solid 'laminated head 11 as will be clearly understo'odby referring to Figure 3 of the drawings. w x

The upper leg 17 of the stem may be turned down as shown in Figure 1 of the drawings. The leg 17 may also be provided with a socket, not shown in the drawings, to

, i of different texture receive the lower end of the shaft 18. The laminated head 11 may be turned to provide the conventional driving head indicated at 19 in Figure 1 of the drawings.

The grain of the lower or overlapped leg 16 extends parallel with the longitudinal dimension of the driving head while the grain of the upper or free leg 17 runs parallel with the grain of the handle.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that there will be no great waste in band sawing this head as is customary in the solid head, and furthermore there will be very little waste in turning the head down upon the leg to the form shown in the drawings. Furthermore,v the construction provides grain running parallel with the head and also a straight grain running parallel of the club by reason of forming the stem in accordance with the present invention.

The one piece or unitary stem being of straight grained material providesin the one piece grain running parallel to the head and also to the handle of the club.

It is t'o'be understood that by describing in detail herein any particular form, structure or arrangement, it is not intended to limit the invention beyondthe terms of the several claims or the requirements of the prior art.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A wooden golf club head comprising a longitudinally grained straight piece of wood-bent to an oblique angle to form a stem, a pair of rectangular blocks of wood: of different texture from the stem, said blocks having registering channels on their inner faces intermediate the upper and lower faces thereof, said registering channels overlapping and secured to one leg of the stem by an agglutinating material.

2. A wooden golf club head comprising a longitudinally grained straight piece of wood bent to an oblique angle'to form a stem,'a pair of rectangular blocks of wood of different texture from the stem, said blocks having registering channels on their inner faces intermediate the upper and lower facesthereof, said registering channels overlapping and secured to one leg of the stem by an agglutinating material, and the leg of the stem overlapped by the channels being of a square configuration.

3. A wooden golf club head comprising a longitudinally grained straightpiece of wood bent to an oblique angle to form a stem,.-a pair of rectan 'ular blocks of wood rom the stem, said blocks having registering channelson their inner faces intermediate the upper and lower faces thereof, said registering channels overlapping and secured to one leg of the stem by an agglutinating material, and the leg of the stem overlapped by the channels being of a square configuration the grain of the overlapped leg of the stem being parallel with the longitudinal dimension of head and the grain of the free leg of the stem parallel with the handle of the club.

4:- A wooden golf club head comprising a longitudinally grained straight piece of wood bent to an oblique angle to form a stem, a pair of rectangular blocks of wood of different texture from the stem, said blocks having registering channels on their inner faces intermediate the upper and lower faces thereof, said registering channels overlapping a-nd secured to one leg of the stem by an agglutinating material, and the leg of the stem overlapped by the channels being of a square configuration, the grain of the overlapped leg of the stem being parallel with the longitudinal dimension of head and the grain of the free leg of the stem parallel with the handle of the club, the pair of channels being of substantially U-shaped configuration.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

BENJAMIN BOORMAN SMITH. 

